New Student Experiences to
Lots of New Students
Charles A. Weaver, III, Ph. D.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Psychology and Neuroscience
About 800-1000 majors
Roughly 200 new students each fall
Can’t afford majors-only sections
We’re at about 40-1 Student-Faculty Ratio
Faculty no longer willing to participate in U1000like classes
Proposed: Large-Scale NSE for
all majors
• All new NSC and PSY students (including
transfers)
• Part of major curricular changes (pre-major,
“two-strikes” policy, early identification)
• Attempt to integrate students into
department earlier than we had been doing
Proposed: Large-Scale NSE for
all majors
• 1 hour each week
• Semester-long
• Led by Advisor (Tammy Lawrence) and
UPD (me/Hugh Riley)
• Weekly faculty visitor plus university
resources
Why are you here?
• New Pre-major Policies in PSY and NSC
• We want to do a discipline-specific “new
student experience” class
• We want you to feel connected to PSY/NSC
as well as to Baylor University
• We want to share information with you
before it’s too late to make a difference
What are we going to do?
• Part of each class will be devoted to specific topics (like
“what’s important your first semester?” and “what can I
do now to prepare for graduate school applications?”
• Part of the class will be to answer your questions and
discuss challenges of first year experiences
• You’re going to get to meet the faculty of the Department
of Psychology and Neuroscience, hear what they do, and
ask them questions
Articles and Readings
Readings:
•
•
•
•
Adjusting to Your New Life at Baylor
Studying: What works and what doesn’t
Freshman Survival Guide
Career Paths within the clinical and counseling fields
(Departmental Document)
• Graduate School (Dr. Lawrence)
Tasks (to be completed for credit)
• Prepare for Your Advising Appointment
• Using MAP-Works
• Pre-Major Application
Sessions
• Surviving your first semester
• Premajor policy
• Getting Involved: Psychology Club, Psi Chi,
BNS, Nu Rho Psi
• Who can you turn to for help? (Dr. Martha
Lou Scott & Bethany McCraw)
• MAP-Works (Ron English)
• Academic Success (Study Tips)
• Advising (Joyce Miller )
• Health-related professions (Dr. Rich Sanker)
Sessions
• Staff introductions (with goodies)
• Diversity and Adjustment (student panel,
based on Stephens et al., 2014, DifferenceEducation Intervention)
• Graduate School Advising
• Brandy & Cigars with PSY/NSC Faculty
(well, Dr. Pepper Floats….)
Successes
• Connection with Students & Department
• Explicit statements of Expectations
• Roll-out of Pre-major requirements
• MAP-Works completion (virtually 100%)
• Title IX Education
Areas for Improvement
• Attendance wanes (the “Chapel Problem”)
• Limited individual feedback & interaction
• Intervention is student-driven
• First-year students know everything
Thanks!
Questions, comments, handouts?
Email me: Charles_Weaver@Baylor.edu